Levi Rollins planned to become a head varsity wrestling coach some day – just not quite yet.

But when John Kelly resigned from that post at Camden Hills of Rockport for personal reasons not long before preseason practices began, Rollins suddenly found himself in charge of one of the state’s premier wrestling programs.

It’s not that Rollins was unfamiliar with the Windjammers’ success. He was a three-time individual Class B state champion for Camden Hills before graduating in 2003, and the only time he didn’t win a title he was the state runner-up in his weight class as a freshman.

During his four years with the Windjammers, they won four consecutive state championships.

Rollins joined the Camden Hills coaching staff last winter as an assistant under Kelly and helped the team win its seventh state championship in the last eight years and eighth in the last 10 years.

“The plan was that I would be an assistant for a couple of years and then when John decided to get done, I’d be ready,” said Rollins, whose days were already kept busy by his young family and his duties at the family’s auto body shop in West Rockport.

“When John decided to step down this season, I really wasn’t up for it,” said Rollins.

But Rollins ultimately took the job anyway, and now he’s quickly becoming comfortable with his new responsibilities.

“It’s kind of hard because I haven’t coached before,” said Rollins, who is assisted by Brian Cassidy and also receives help from Kelly and several fellow Camden Hills wrestling alumni.

“Last year when I came on board, a lot of what I did then was wrestle with the kids. This year, at first I found it difficult to instruct the kids because I hadn’t done it before, but when we got to the second week everything started coming together.”

Camden Hills should be one of the top contenders for the Class B state championship again this winter, though the Windjammers will be challenged by Belfast and Mountain Valley, who finished second and third at last year’s state meet.

Camden Hills will be led by two-time state champion Jacob Berry, a senior who won at 140 pounds as a sophomore and at 152 last February. Berry is one of three state champs back from last year, along with senior Ivan Bragg (119) and junior Jack Simpkins (135).

Senior Murphy McGowan, second in the state at 125 last season, also is a former state champion, having won at 103 pounds as a freshman. He’s expected to compete at 130 pounds this winter.

Senior Kristi Pearse is a two-time state runner-up at 103 pounds, while sophomore Zac Fields placed third at 112 as a freshman and will compete at 119 this season.

Other returning veterans include juniors Allen Muir (275) and Logan Rich (112), while freshmen Jacob Powers (125), Brandon Rich (140) and Taylor Harrison (215) have the potential to make an immediate impact.

The Windjammers went 1-2 in their first preseason meet last weekend, with a win over Dexter and narrow losses to Mountain Valley and Massabesic of Waterboro, the state’s top-ranked team, according to the first Maine Amateur Wrestling Association poll of the season.

“We were giving up two weight classes, so I thought the kids worked hard and wrestled well,” said Rollins. “I think we’ll have a decent team, and I think we’re going to be a good tournament team.”

New season brings rule changes

A few revisions will be in effect when the 2007-08 high school basketball season gets under way this weekend, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Perhaps the biggest difference noticeable to fans will regard the appearance of some teams, as home teams will be required to wear white jerseys.

For many years teams had the option to wear light but nonwhite home jerseys at home, such as the gray tops worn by Lee Academy or the yellow jerseys worn by Maranacook of Readfield.

This change was approved in April 2004, giving programs four years to comply and purchase new jerseys if necessary.

The rule applies only to varsity teams.

Among rule changes approved by the NFHS board of directors, coaches will have less time to replace a disqualified or injured player. That interval has been reduced from 30 to 20 seconds, with a warning signal sounded five seconds into the stoppage.

This change is designed to eliminate the practice of coaches using the time immediately after a player has been disqualified or removed from the game due to injury for an unofficial time-out to discuss team strategy.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net